Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh said for the time being, there was no confirmation that Lim’s case would be dropped as the prosecutors had yet to go through the representations submitted by the defence.

He said the representations were sent to them on July 6, and the prosecutors had said they required a month to go through them.

“The judge has now given them one final month to consider the representations made by us for both the accused,” he said, referring to Lim and businesswoman Phang Li Koon.

“Our representations are quite extensive. Maybe they need time to go through them,” he added outside the courtroom today.

Lim was not present although Phang was there with her lawyer V Sithambaram.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Rashid Daud replaced Masri Mohd Daud who is currently out of the country.

Lim, who was Penang chief minister at the time, was charged in 2016 with using his public office to approve an application by a company to convert agricultural land for residential purposes.

He was also accused of using his position to purchase a bungalow from Phang for RM2.8 million, lower than its market value of RM4.27 million. Phang was charged with abetment.

Lim was sworn in as finance minister on May 21, following Pakatan Harapan’s election victory in the May 9 polls.